[Kamen_rider]

Originally Posted by SDP

Konkan coastline. This photo - let me correct that - this thread is dedicated to our beloved Team-BHPian Kamen_Rider whose Mumbai to Goa Kayak journey is extremely inspiring.

Thank you SDP for the kind mention. On day 6 (yet to be written), I passed the Velas beach but I gave it a wide berth because I knew mother Turtles might be coming in to nest and there might be eggs on the beach. I thought it best not to disturb them.

Excellent thread and pictures and I liked your other threads too, please keep them coming!

[ampere]

Good to see so different a place. Had heard about turtle hatcheries in India. But never had visited one. Thanks for sharing this.

PS: The evening splash on the beach must have been a welcome one!

[ghodlur]

@SDP.

Great pics and good narration. I had known about the Velas turtle festival through one of the BHPians MX6 who I guess used to frequent the place quite often and heard rare reviews about the same.

Was there a bigger group of turtles being hatched? I loved the journey of the young one making it to the sea through the pics. How long does the festival or turtle hatching lasts for?

[revintup]

Thank you for the very well written piece. I feel like I visited the place.

Mind myself using one of your pics as a wallpaper? The second photo of the young turtle with its head raised

The place is a bit too far for me but it is on my wishlist someday for sure.

[Jignesh]

Hello Sanjay,

You know I was eagarly for this travelogue of yours. The narration & photos are absolutely fantastic as usual.

How many Turtle hatchlings did you all managed to see?

As suggested by you above, I checked website of Sahyadri Nisarga Mitra (http://snmcpn.in/) & was surprised to know precise details of all Turtle nests at various locations in Raigad, Ratnagiri & Sindhudurd (Velas, Dabhol, Murud, Talashil, Srivardhan, etc). As of April 2,2012 there are 75 nests.
Further they have maintained & listed details of date-wise number of Hatchlings released in sea. Pretty interesting.

Thank you for bringing up this unknown fact about Konkan.

Regards,

[Chillout]

Brilliant write up with beautiful snaps, wish the whole world was as peaceful as Velas. As they say Real India is in our villages.

[ariesonu]

WAAOOOW...
I am still trying to find words to describe your TL or should I say PL (Photo logue)

Spell bounding pictures, less but crisp words and you do have a CHARGED up daughtie.

Love every picture and word written up here.

Raab rakha.

[350biker]

Now this is what you call "Ek number....Mitra"

What a thread !!! Rating 5 stars to your thread Sir !! I am sure this trip will always be a fond memory for you till the end.

I don't know what happens when I start reading about konkan and the virgin beaches that one gets to experience there. I would never even look at Goa given an option of Konkan.

I was recently in Malwan in the month of December (3rd time in same year) and had a great time there.

Just like you, I too don't know where to stop with photographing sunsets.

Sorry I cant resist so I am just posting a couple of my clicks just aise hi :

[NMS]

SDP - This is an awesome travelogue. Not only is it detailed and covers a lot of information, but it is Straight from the heart.

I have been to Konkan many times over the past 3 Years. Each time a different season and a different experience. The people over there are very simple and that's mornings are still very fresh
Also till when is this Festival going to last?

[SDP]

Originally Posted by Kamen_rider

Thank you SDP for the kind mention. On day 6 (yet to be written), I passed the Velas beach but I gave it a wide berth because I knew mother Turtles might be coming in to nest and there might be eggs on the beach. I thought it best not to disturb them.

Excellent thread and pictures and I liked your other threads too, please keep them coming!

Thanks Kamen_rider! While I was at Baankot fort, the thought did strike me that you would have passed this stretch. Would wait for day-6 updates!

Originally Posted by ampere

Good to see so different a place. Had heard about turtle hatcheries in India. But never had visited one. Thanks for sharing this.

PS: The evening splash on the beach must have been a welcome one!

Thanks! The hatchling was released around 7pm. That left very little time to enjoy the water. But we did utilize that time well. Good fun.

Originally Posted by ghodlur

@SDP.

Great pics and good narration. I had known about the Velas turtle festival through one of the BHPians MX6 who I guess used to frequent the place quite often and heard rare reviews about the same.

Was there a bigger group of turtles being hatched? I loved the journey of the young one making it to the sea through the pics. How long does the festival or turtle hatching lasts for?

Thanks Ghodlur! The festival starts sometime in Mar and goes on till late April. Having said that, its a natural phenomenon and exact dates change every year. The dates are different for different villages as well. The website of Sahyadri Nisaraga Mitra provides the latest information for each site.

Originally Posted by revintup

Thank you for the very well written piece. I feel like I visited the place.

Mind myself using one of your pics as a wallpaper? The second photo of the young turtle with its head raised

The place is a bit too far for me but it is on my wishlist someday for sure.

Thanks revintup! I personally liked that 2nd picture. Feel free to download it and use it.

Originally Posted by Jignesh

Hello Sanjay,

You know I was eagarly for this travelogue of yours. The narration & photos are absolutely fantastic as usual.

How many Turtle hatchlings did you all managed to see?

As suggested by you above, I checked website of Sahyadri Nisarga Mitra (http://snmcpn.in/) & was surprised to know precise details of all Turtle nests at various locations in Raigad, Ratnagiri & Sindhudurd (Velas, Dabhol, Murud, Talashil, Srivardhan, etc). As of April 2,2012 there are 75 nests.
Further they have maintained & listed details of date-wise number of Hatchlings released in sea. Pretty interesting.

Thank you for bringing up this unknown fact about Konkan.

Regards,

Thanks Jignesh! Yes, the site provides accurate information about datewise how many hatchlings were released. We saw one on Saturday evening and eight on Sunday morning.

Originally Posted by Chillout

Brilliant write up with beautiful snaps, wish the whole world was as peaceful as Velas. As they say Real India is in our villages.

Thanks Chillout! Very true.. villages are the "real" India. Its high time that we start looking up to villages as the "future" rather than the "past".

Originally Posted by ariesonu

WAAOOOW...
I am still trying to find words to describe your TL or should I say PL (Photo logue)

Spell bounding pictures, less but crisp words and you do have a CHARGED up daughtie.

Love every picture and word written up here.

Raab rakha.

Thanks ariessonu for the kind words! Day2 pics coming up over the weekend. Stay tuned!

Originally Posted by 350biker

Now this is what you call "Ek number....Mitra"

What a thread !!! Rating 5 stars to your thread Sir !! I am sure this trip will always be a fond memory for you till the end.

I don't know what happens when I start reading about konkan and the virgin beaches that one gets to experience there. I would never even look at Goa given an option of Konkan.

I was recently in Malwan in the month of December (3rd time in same year) and had a great time there.

Just like you, I too don't know where to stop with photographing sunsets.

Sorry I cant resist so I am just posting a couple of my clicks just aise hi :

Thanks! Nice pics there, 350biker! Tarkarli, by any chance?

Originally Posted by NMS

SDP - This is an awesome travelogue. Not only is it detailed and covers a lot of information, but it is Straight from the heart.

I have been to Konkan many times over the past 3 Years. Each time a different season and a different experience. The people over there are very simple and that's mornings are still very fresh
Also till when is this Festival going to last?

Thanks NMS for the kind words. The festival would last for at least 2 weeks more. Kokan is a treasure trove in every season. I was there once in monsoon and the amount of rain and lightening is amazing. At night, its fascinating to listen to the frogs croaking loudly and the rain lashing on the windows and the roof.

[NMS]

Originally Posted by SDP

Thanks NMS for the kind words. The festival would last for at least 2 weeks more. Kokan is a treasure trove in every season. I was there once in monsoon and the amount of rain and lightening is amazing. At night, its fascinating to listen to the frogs croaking loudly and the rain lashing on the windows and the roof.

Absolutely a marvel !! And the scenic beauty during the monsoons is something that no words can describe. I have had some of the most enjoyable drives during Monsoons in the Konkan Region.

[SDP]

Continuing with the travelogue:
-----------------------------------------------------

After the sunset, the light started fading faster than I expected. Although everyone was asked to carry a torch, I had forgotten carrying one. So it was important to head back to the home-stay. The kids were wet and a bit cranky. I picked up my daughter and started a brisk walk back to the bridge. There was one bus waiting at the bridge for the ladies and the kids. After dropping my wife and kids to the bus, I walked back to the Sakpal house with a few folks.

All were supposed to assemble at the Mohan Upadhe house for a documentary screening at 7:30pm. I assumed that everyone would go to the houses first and then head for the screening. As luck would have it, the 'ladies special' bus started late from the bridge and then headed straight for the Upadhe house which was located in another part of the village.

Did I mention that NO cellphones get any network in Velas? So myself and the few folks who returned to the house did not had any means to know the change in plan. I waited, waited and then went to the place where the remaining buses were parked. A bus-driver told me that he had dropped everybody at the Upadhe house directly. I returned to the Sakpal house. The residual light had vanished by then. The Sakpal house had a blown fuse, so I waited in the next house and listened to some random stories from a old man who seemed to have drank something interesting . I did not know the Upadhe house and I did not had any torch. So finally I decided to just wait there and miss the documentary.

After some time, a few more people dropped in. They had a couple of torches and one of them suggested that we go looking for the Upadhe house with the help from a kid from the house. There was anyways nothing better to do, so I joined in. A group of 6 of us, with the 10-year boy in the front and lousy illumination from a couple of small torches, started through the pitch dark supari-baug. After a good 15 minute walk while munching on some namkeen, we finally reached the house of Mr Upadhe. It was past 8pm amd the documentary had just ended. Mr Joshi from SNM spoke for a couple of minutes and also conducted a small quiz for the kids. One of the kids got a small clay replica of a baby turtle when he gave a right answer.

I located my family. After a small dance and turtle-song program by the local kids, the volunteers started preparing for another documentary. My daughter had sand all over her and desparately needed a bath. We should head back to the house. But how? We did not had any torch. Finally we located another small group who was about to leave and had one torch. They did not know the exact place where they were put up. I offered navigation services (through the 10 year old boy) and we joined forces. Another 15 minute walk started in pitch dark, this time with only one torch. The sky was brilliant. Its been ages since I had seen stars so bright.. and so many of them. I got the kids' attention to the sky and even they were amazed by its brilliance. Simple pleasures of life!

Reached the house, thanked the neighbour's boy, gave a bath to my son and took a bath myself with lukewam water. Felt better after washing off the sweat from the body. Its been a long day. After another heavy meal, a few discussions about the day and quick review of photos, everybody hit the sack around 10:30pm.

[ashphil]

Lovely TL. Excellent narration and beautiful photographs. Any effort by man to preserve wild/marine life is commendable. Thank you for all this information. It makes this an excellent place to visit.
Best Regards,
Ashok

[SDP]

Day 2: 7th April 2013

During the briefing at night, people were asked to get up around 5-5:15am as every house had ~10 guests and it would take a good amount of time to finish the morning rituals for that large a group. The plan was to start towards the beach at 6:30am. Around 7 am, new hatchlings if any would be released to the sea.

That was the plan! In reality, in our house nobody was awake even at 6am. I got up at 6am, came out and sat at my favourite spot. Nice cold breeze. The village slowly coming out of its slumber. Bird sounds ..a variety of them. Most of the bird-sounds were familiar. One particularly loud bird-sound was completely new. It was coming from the suru trees lining the beach. The trip agenda mentioned a visit to the nesting grounds of the White-bellied sea-eagle. Could that be it?

While I was enjoying the various sounds, people from our group started coming out of their respective houses, all dressed up for a visit to the hatchery. I rushed inside, woke up a couple of guys. They woke up a few more. Few decided to drop out of the morning excursion and opted for more sleep. My son was still fast asleep. After a couple of attempts, I managed to wake him up. While sleeping, he was flanked by me on one side and another gentleman from the group on the other side. While I am used to getting kicks from my son during the night, for the other gentleman who was in mid-twenties and without family, it was quite a unique experience.

6:30am-> Finally, after a significant portion of the group had already started towards the hatchery, we left our house.



An interesting house on the way.


After zig-zagging through a cluster of houses, we reached the road. "Welcome to the turtle village".


The beach


The hatchery. Yesterday evening one hatchling. How many today? That was the question on everybody's mind.


The beach bathing in morning sunlight.


One of the volunteers with keen eyes, pointed to a bird sitting far off. He said - that's the White-bellied sea eagle - another endangered species!


I quickly swapped the lens, but the sea-eagle was sitting just too far off. Even after a heavy crop, this is all I could manage.


That's the guy who spotted the sea-eagle. He mentioned - looking at the schedule, a visit to the nesting grounds might not be possible. He also said - don't go close or it will fly away.


Back at the hatchery, they discovered 8 new hatchlings!
We all headed to the patch on the beach where they would release the babies to the sea.

My sleepy-heads.




The minds were all excited. The bodies were still kind of sluggish.

[SDP]

The baby turtles were placed on the sand.

1..2..


3..4..


5..6..7..8


They all started immediately in the approximate direction of the water. Someone from the group uttered "Its a race! Come on!".

I named the babies after the names of our enthusiastic volunteers.

Amitayu takes the lead. Chetan on his tail and Civa at third place.


Gurdeep creating her own lane and Sandeep on a parallel track.


Abhilash who missed his morning coffee, taking a small break.


Nikhil does not believe in crawling. He wants to fly instead!


That's Bhakti struggling a bit to come out of a human foot-print in the wet sand.


I tried to capture the trail the babies were leaving behind.




Amitayu reached the water first..


..and was quickly drenched by a small wave.


The wave was not strong enough to take him deeper in the sea.


Looks like after getting drenched, Amitayu got disoriented and started exploring a different approach angle.